A mother in Maine has taken her fight over parental rights to the United States Supreme Court, claiming that school staff had helped her child identify as a different gender at school without her prior knowledge and consent. Meanwhile, the federal Department of Education in Maine is conducting an investigation, as transgender girls (biological boys) have been permitted to compete against girls, in defiance of an executive order issued by President Donald Trump.

In December 2022, Amber Lavigne discovered that her 13-year-old daughter had been provided with a chest binder by the school social worker, and that the school staff had been using different names and pronouns for her daughter without her knowledge. In April 2023, Lavigne initiated legal proceedings against the school board, contending that the school officials had infringed upon her constitutional right to oversee and direct her child’s upbringing and education.

Maine mom Amber Lavigne says her 13-year-old was secretly “socially transitioned” at school—given a chest binder and male name/pronouns—without her consent. She’s now asking the U.S. Supreme Court to step in. #AmberLavigne #ParentalRights #SCOTUS
🔗 https://t.co/KpS4gHuqI8 pic.twitter.com/ArjNyneeq8

— The Christian Post (@ChristianPost) January 2, 2026

In 2024, a federal judge dismissed the lawsuit, concluding that Lavigne failed to substantiate legal claims that could hold the school board accountable, as reported by the Associated Press. The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit upheld this dismissal in July 2025. However, Lavigne’s lawyers from the Goldwater Institute have now petitioned the United States Supreme Court to pursue the case further.

“We are urging the Supreme Court to intervene and make it clear that parents like Amber have the right to be informed when public school officials make significant decisions impacting their children’s mental health and physical well-being,” stated Adam Shelton, a lawyer for the Goldwater Institute.

At the end of December, the legal team cited similar cases from Massachusetts and Florida currently before the Supreme Court, which involve disputes between parents and public schools over gender issues. In their submission, Lavigne’s lawyers pointed out that the district court dismissed the case on the basis that it “did not provide sufficient facts to support that the school district had a longstanding and well-established policy or practice of withholding and concealing information.” The petition now requests the Supreme Court to clarify whether courts can dismiss parental rights lawsuits based on plausible “alternative explanations” before evidence is gathered, and to decide whether parents have a constitutional right to be informed when public schools “acknowledge and support a child’s gender transition.”

“This case is fundamentally about the violation of my parental rights,” Lavigne stated. She added: “It involves a social worker who has never spoken to me and encouraged my child to keep secrets from me.”

The Department of Education is also conducting an investigation in Maine

In February last year, the United States Department of Education launched an investigation into Maine’s Department of Education and a school district under Title IX. The allegation is that Maine continues to permit biological boys (i.e., transgender girls) to participate in girls’ school sports, thus failing to comply with Title IX.

Fox News obtained documents last summer revealing that Pender Makin, the commissioner of Maine’s Department of Education, had issued memos to all of the state’s school districts after President Donald Trump began issuing executive orders concerning public education.

The people of Maine are fed up with @GovJanetMills and her stance on allowing boys who believe they are girls play in various sports.

They are calling for her impeachment and rightly so. pic.twitter.com/pPXH7bnStR

— Erica 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 (@EricaRN4USA) March 4, 2025

In the early months of Donald Trump’s second term, a public dispute arose with Janet Mills, the Governor of Maine, over the issue of transgender athletes participating in girls’ sports. Makin communicated to school districts, asserting that most executive orders essentially do not pertain to them. He stated: „The executive order does not alter the obligations of schools under state law, including the Maine Human Rights Act, and does not necessitate an immediate change to locally adopted school board policies.”

By opposing Trump’s executive order titled „Keep Men Out of Women’s Sports,” signed on 5th February, the state allowed the girls’ winter athletic season to end on a sour note. A transgender athlete from Greely High School claimed first place in the girls’ pole vault at the state championship in February.

„I saw this male pole vaulter standing on the podium, and we all just exchanged glances, thinking: ‘We are certain he is not a girl. There’s no way he is a girl,'” said Hailey Himes, a female athlete from Presque Isle High School, in an interview with Fox News Digital. She added: „It was very disheartening, especially for the girls on the podium who did not finish in first place. It spurred me to fight for them.”